condemnation

Case Closed.

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Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? – Romans 8:33-35 ESV

Not guilty! That is the verdict. Let the magnitude of that statement sink in. In these verses, Paul provides us with a stunning reminder of the staggering reality of our status as completely innocent and totally righteous sons and daughters of God. As he stated when he began this chapter, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 ESV). In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul gave them unbelievably good news. “Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11 ESV). At one time, we were all guilty before God, condemned and deserving of His just judgment: Death. But how we stand before His presence not only forgiven, but sinless in His eyes. We have been justified. So not only have we had our sins forgiven and removed, we have been given the righteousness of Christ. And as a result, no one can condemn us. No one can bring a charge against us. Our debt has been paid. Our death sentence has been commuted. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV). We have received the righteousness of Christ. He took on our sin and we took on His righteousness.

And nothing can change our forgiven, guiltless, uncondemned, fully righteous status. We are completely covered by the unfailing love of Christ. Even at this moment, He intercedes on our behalf. His very presence at the side of God the Father is a constant reminder of the payment that was made and the complete satisfaction of God’s justice that was supplied by His death in our place. And Paul would have us consider the fact that nothing can separate us from that love. He rhetorically asks, “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love?” (Romans 8:35 NLT). And the answer is: Nothing. Absolutely, positively nothing. Even when things appear to be less-than-perfect in our lives or it feels as if God is not there, Paul asks us to consider: “Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?” And again, the answer is, “No!” Christ died for us, as a payment for our sin. He was resurrected by the Spirit as a confirmation that His sacrifice was acceptable to God. And He ascended to the right hand of God, where He intercedes on our behalf. “Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25 ESV). We must always remember that our salvation will not be complete until we experience glorification – our finalized adoption as sons and daughters and the redemption of our bodies. Until that day, we must not let the troubles and trials of this life tempt us to doubt God’s love, Christ’s work, or our status as God’s children.

Our case has been completely settled. Our sentence of innocence has been pronounced. Our debt has been settled and our future is secure. Nothing can change that. No one can do anything to reverse God’s declaration of our guiltlessness. Not even us. There is no longer any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Let that sink in. Don’t take it for granted. Don’t treat it lightly or flippantly. As the old hymn says, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see.”

No Lesson Learned.

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As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. Therefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice. And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly. – Daniel 9:13-16 ESV

Daniel 9:4-19

The people of Judah had deserved just what they had gotten. God had been righteous in all of His actions. That was the stance of Daniel. He was not angry with God. He did not shake his fist in God’s face, demanding an explanation for the last 70 years of exile. He knew exactly why the people of Judah were living in Babylon instead of the land of promise. Moses had warned them of the consequences of living in disobedience to God. “But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you” (Deuteronomy 28:15 ESV). And he had been very specific. “The Lord will bring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known. And there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone” (Deuteronomy 28:36 ESV). The amazing thing to Daniel was not what had happened to them, but that they had learned to lessons from their experience. He openly confessed, “Every curse written against us in the Law of Moses has come true. Yet we have refused to seek mercy from the Lord our God by turning from our sins and recognizing his truth” (Daniel 9:13 NLT). For seven decades the people of Judah had continued to live in stubborn and open rebellion against God. Their punishment had not produced any remorse or caused them to run to God in repentance. As God had predicted through Moses, they had simply acclimated themselves to their new surroundings and begun to “serve other gods of wood and stone.”

It is amazing how easily we can find ourselves under the loving discipline of God, but fail to see it for what it is. When we get into trouble, we tend to blame God, rather then consider what we might have done to deserve our fate. Sometimes we are suffering as a result of our own stupidity. We make decisions without consulting God. We live out from under the guiding and protecting influence of the Holy Spirit. And we end up reaping the negative consequences of our own sinful self-wills. It is at those times we need to humbly seek God and ask Him to reveal to us any sin that may have played a role in our suffering. We need to be willing to ask Him to use the circumstances of our lives to teach us more about ourselves and reveal to us more about Him. David prayed a prayer that should be a model for every believer who is serious about growing in his relationship with God. It is a dangerous and difficult prayer to pray. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life” (Psalm 139:23-24 NLT). David is asking God to shine His examination light into the deepest recesses of his life and show him what he cannot see. David realized that there were things in his own heart to which he was oblivious. There were sins lurking in his life to which he was blind. And he was asking God to point them all out to him.

Daniel was shocked that the people of Judah had not done the same thing. They had not run to God and asked Him to expose their sin so that they could repent of it. Instead, they had spent nearly 70 years learning to live with their sins and passively accepting the painful consequences. Most of them had long forgotten about the land of promise. Thousands of children had been born who knew nothing about Jerusalem or the great temple of Solomon. They had grown up worshiping false gods instead of the one true God. They saw no repentance in the lives of their parents. No one wanted to accept responsibility for their predicament. But Daniel knew better. He confessed. He entreated God’s favor. He knew that God had been righteous in all He had done regarding Israel. It wasn’t God who was in the wrong, but the people who had been set apart by Him as His chosen possession. Even in the midst of their punishment, they had remained stubborn and rebellious. In another one of his prayers to God, David had admitted, “How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don’t let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin” (Psalm 19:12-13 NLT). Even on the good days, we should long for God to mercifully and lovingly reveal any hidden sins in our lives. We should want Him to expose those things to which we are blind. Knowing we have a problem is the first step toward healing. It is difficult to confess sins we can’t even see. And so many times our sins are hidden from view – even our own. They remain in the dark recesses of our lives, until we allow God to expose them to us, so that we might confess them and receive His forgiveness. The people of God in Daniel’s day had not learned their lesson. They had not seen their circumstances as having come from God’s loving hand. So rather than return and repent, they had continued to live under God’s discipline. But Daniel wanted God’s blessing. He was willing to humbly confess and receive God’s mercy and forgiveness.

Something You Can Count On.

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To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. – Daniel 9:8-10 ESV

Daniel 9:4-19

It’s clear from reading his prayer, that Daniel was well aware of Judah’s guilt and culpability. He knew there very presence in the land of Babylon was evidence of their own sin and rebellion against God. And they needed to own their shame. They had brought it on themselves. In allowing the Babylonians to defeat them and take them into exile, God had simply fulfilled all that He had warned would happen if they failed to return to Him. He had given them ample warning and more than enough time to change their minds (repent) and avoid the coming judgment that Jeremiah and so many other prophets of God had warned was coming. But as Daniel confessed to God, “We have sinned against you.” He openly admitted that “we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.” No excuses. Any shame they were experiencing belonged to them. It was their own fault.

But then Daniel says something that illustrates a remarkably stark contrast between mankind and God. “To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness.” They are His because they are an expression of His very nature. Shame, guilt and sin belong to man because they are expressions of his nature. You can count on it. These characteristics always show up eventually. Why? Because man can’t help it. As Paul so painfully reminds us, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 ESV). Solomon echoed that sentiment when he wrote, “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins” (Ecclesiastes 7:20 ESV). In His prayer at the dedication of the Temple, Solomon had asked God, “If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near…if they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name, then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you” (1 Kings 8:46, 48-50 ESV). Solomon’s request had foreshadowed the very circumstance in which the nation of Judah found itself. They had sinned. God had given them over to their enemy. He had sent them into exile. But He was also about to show them His undeserved mercy and shower them with His forgiveness – in spite of them. There was no indication that the people had “with all their mind and with all their heart” as Solomon had prayed. They had not pleaded with God in the land of their captors. The only one praying seemed to be Daniel. And yet God heard his prayer. And because mercy and forgiveness belong to God, He is free to give them whether they are deserved or not. As Paul so aptly puts it, “So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills” (Romans 9:18 ESV). We can’t earn His mercy and forgiveness. We are incapable of doing anything that will force Him to give us what we so desperately need. But He gives mercy and forgiveness because He chooses to do so. That is the very hope of the gospel. Sin belongs to mankind. Mercy and forgiveness belong to God. Our sin can only produce death. God’s mercy and forgiveness result in life. And nowhere is that more evident than in the greatest expression of God’s mercy and forgiveness: His Son Jesus Christ. Paul states that “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 ESV). Christ’s death was the ultimate act of God’s mercy. He died in our place. He took on our sin and suffered our punishment, so that we might receive God’s judicial pardon and be released from all condemnation. He died so that we might live. And all of this in spite of the fact that mankind had proven itself completely incapable of faithfulness to God. In fact, Paul says, “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Romans 5:20 ESV). The worse sin got, the greater God’s grace became. God paid the ultimate price for the sin and rebellion of men. He gave His own Son as the sinless sacrifice required to satisfy His own just judgment of sin. He paid the debt we owed with the blood of His own Son. Mercy and forgiveness belonged to Him and He expressed it through Jesus. And while God could never count on us to remain faithful, we can always count on Him. “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9 ESV). Mercy and forgiveness belong to God, and He shared both with mankind through the loving sacrifice of His own Son. Rather than give us what we deserved: death, He gave us what we could have never earned: Life. The story of the Bible is summed up in the words of Paul to Timothy. “If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is” (2 Timothy 2:13 NLT).


Righteous In All His Ways.

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We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. – Daniel 9:6-7 ESV

Daniel 9:4-19

Along with the prophecies of Jeremiah, Daniel would have surely been familiar with the psalms of David. In more than one of his psalms David wrote of the righteousness of God. “The LORD is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness” (Psalm 145:17 NLT). “God’s way is perfect. All the LORD’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection” (Psalm 18:30 NLT). He would have also known the words of Moses regarding the righteousness of God. “He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect. Everything he does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright he is!” (Deuteronomy 32:4 NLT). As a young Jew growing up in Judah, Daniel would have been well-schooled in the righteousness of God. And as an old man living in exile in Babylon, he was still holding on to what he knew and believed about God. As he continued his prayer of confession and contrition on behalf of the people of Judah, he openly and humbly admitted their full responsibility for their predicament and God’s right and responsibility to have dealt with them as He had. God had warned, but they had not listened. God had given His call to repentance to every king, prince, father and child in Judah, so that no one could have claimed ignorance. Their sin against Him had been knowingly and willful. As a result, Daniel confesses that their humiliation was well-deserved and should have been fully expected. Not only for those living in exile in Babylon, but for every Jew wherever they might be living.

How easy it is to snub our nose at God and then shake our finger in His face when things don’t turn out quite the way we expected. How many times had the people of Israel refused to listen to God and then attempted to blame Him for the consequences of their own rebellion? It would have seemed logical and only natural to question why God had abandoned them as a nation and allowed them to be defeated at the hands of their enemies. But the truth was that they had abandoned God. They had forsaken Him and refused to live according to His commands. And God had repeatedly warned them what would happen if they continued their pattern of ignoring His calls to repentance. So Daniel knew that God was in the right. He had kept His word and done exactly what He had said He would do. Because He is righteous. But God is far more than just a letter-of-the-law god. His righteousness has a purpose behind it. As David had said, “The LORD is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness.” Even in His punishment, He expresses love. “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights” (Solomon 3:11-12 ESV). “Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you” (Deuteronomy 8:5 ESV).

Daniel had had 70 years to consider why the people of Judah were living in the land of Babylon as exiles. He had had ample time to think about their circumstances and reach the conclusion that their situation was a result of their own sin and God’s righteous, yet loving discipline. Which is why he concluded that God had “driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed.” They were wrong. God was right. They had been unfaithful, but God had remained faithful. In fact, God had not only told Jeremiah what would happen if the people of Judah refused to repent, He had told him what He would do even after they stubbornly forced His hand. “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:10-11 ESV). God would be righteous and loving, just and gracious, holy and merciful. He is always righteous and forever loving. He is always firm in His discipline and yet forever faithful in showing kindness. Daniel knew he had no right to point his finger at God. He had no cause to blame God for the less-than-ideal circumstances of the people of Judah. They had gotten what they deserved. But God was about to give them what they didn’t deserve – His grace and kindness expressed in His miraculous restoration of them to the land He had given them. They deserved exile. They didn’t deserve restoration. God had righteously punished them, but was also going to lovingly forgive them. What a picture of the grace and mercy He poured out through Jesus Christ on the cross. The very death we deserved He asked His own Son to bear, so that we might receive pardon and enjoy restoration to a right relationship with God. And all we must do to enjoy this amazing grace is acknowledge our sin and admit our complete inability to save ourselves. We must believe that His Son is the only payment righteous enough and valuable enough to settle the debt we owed. Our death sentence was well-deserved. His grace and love, as revealed through the gift of His Son, was not. He is righteous in all His ways. He is loving beyond belief.

Sinners by Nature.

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Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. – Psalm 51:5-6 ESV

Psalm 51

David was well aware of the seriousness of what he had done and he knew that he had sinned against God. Whatever punishment God might bring his way was well-deserved and completely justified, which is why all David could do is appeal to God’s mercy. And even if David had never committed adultery with Bathsheba and arranged for the death of her husband, he would have still been just as guilty before God. Why? Because his sin and guilt were inherited by him and inherent in him. He had been born a sinner. From God’s perspective, every man and woman ever born came into this world having inherited the sin nature of Adam. Paul writes, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12 ESV). Even David’s own son would confess, “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins” (Ecclesiastes 7:20 ESV). And Paul would conclude that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 ESV). Adam’s “one trespass led to condemnation for all men” (Romans 5:18 ESV)

So David knew that his guilt before God was not simply tied to his affair with Bathsheba. He wasn’t a sinner because he had sinned. He had sinned because he was a sinner. That is a hard concept for most of us to accept, because we want to believe that we are somehow good at heart. We want to think that we are born with a clean moral slate, free from sin and capable of doing good. But the Scriptures paint a much more bleak picture. Adam’s rebellious heart was passed down to each and every one of his descendants. And it doesn’t take long to see that even young children have an innate capacity to reveal their sin natures at very early ages. Lying, deception, selfishness, and manipulation all come naturally to children. They don’t have to be taught. Which is why David knew that he stood before God as guilty, because he had been that way from the very moment of conception. David was in no way minimizing what he had done or blaming his actions on Adam. He was simply admitting that his actions stemmed from his sinful heart – his sin nature. And Paul warns us about our sin nature. “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21 NLT).

David’s dilemma was that he had been born with a sin nature and was prone to sin, yet God expected more. “Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart” (Psalm 51:6 ESV). God wanted David to be honest about his sin. He wanted David to confess his guilt and allow God to do some serious rehabilitation on him at the heart level. Simply confessing his sin would not have been enough. Making sacrifices for his sin, without having a broken and contrite heart would have accomplished nothing. Later on in this same prayer David will say, “The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God” (Psalm 51:17 NLT). God mends broken hearts. He takes our brokenness and guilt and lovingly restores our wholeness and gives us the joy of His forgiveness. David knew that God delighted in truth in the inner being. God has high standards. But God also lovingly teaches those who come to him in brokenness and humility. God wants nothing more from us that our humble dependence upon Him. We are incapable of nothing but sin. “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6 NLT). But the amazing thing is that God offers us a way to be made right with Him. He has provided a means by which we can be forgiven, not just of the sins we commit, but of our very sin natures. “For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17 NLT). Just as David had to come to God with his brokenness and humility, aware of his sinfulness and completely dependent upon God’s mercy, so do we. God’s free gift of salvation made possible through Jesus Christ is available to all who will believe that they are sinners in need of a Savior. Paul makes the process quite clear for us. “We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood” (Romans 3:23-25 NLT). Guilty sinners can become forgiven saints. Enemies of God can become His children. The condemned can become the redeemed. But it all begins with the acknowledgement of our sin and our desperate need for a Savior.

Jesus Christ the Righteous.

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My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. – 1 John 2:1 ESV

For John, a life without sin was to be the goal for every believer. But he was well aware of the fact that complete sinlessness was not a possibility as long as we live on this earth and in these bodies. Like every other believer, John had a sin nature and knew all too well the kind of influence it could have on his life. But he was also convinced that a life characterized by sin was no longer the inevitable fate for those who had placed their faith in Christ. We could and should “walk in the light, as he is in the light” (1 John 1:7). Jesus Christ, through His death on the cross, has made it possible for us to have fellowship with God. He gave us His Spirit to live within us and to empower us to live godly lives. Our sin natures were not eradicated at our conversion, but our helpless and hopeless enslavement to sin was. Paul explained our new post-conversion status: “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin” (Romans 6:6 ESV). What made all this possible was the righteousness of Christ. It was His sinlessness that made Him the perfect, acceptable sacrifice. “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT). His righteousness made our right standing with God possible. We could have spent our lifetimes trying to earn favor with God and live up to His holy standard, and we would have failed. But the righteousness of Christ alone is what satisfied (propitiated) God the Father. His sinlessness allowed Him to become our substitute and pay the price for our sinfulness.

His death has given us life – life more abundantly in this age and the guarantee of eternal life in the age to come. Until He returns, we must still deal with the reality of sin in and around us. Our sin natures are alive and well. Our flesh, as Paul so aptly describes our sin nature, is alive and well. It is that earthly, unrighteous part of us that is driven by desires and passions that are contrary to the will of God. Paul puts it this way: “ The sinful nature [flesh] wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions” (Galatians 5:17 NLT). But the answer to this dilemma is to walk in the Spirit, to live our lives under the Spirit’s control. Christ has provided a new source of strength through the Spirit’s indwelling presence that can enable us to say no to sin. “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives” (Galatians 5:24-25 NLT). Elsewhere Paul writes, “Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace” (Romans 6:12-14 NLT).

We can walk in the light, as He is in the light. We can live our lives in the power of the Spirit. We can walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4). But John reminds us, “But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1 ESV). It’s not a matter of if, but when. We will sin in this lifetime. We are no longer slaves to sin, but we are still greatly influenced by its presence in and around us. We can sin less and we should. But in those times when we give in to temptation and listen to our sinful passions rather than the Spirit within us, we have an advocate – a paraklētos – an intercessor who is pleading our cause before God. Jesus Christ the righteous is our advocate. He sits at the right hand of God the Father and represents us before Him. He is a constant reminder to God the Father of our righteous standing because of His own righteousness. When God looks at us, in essence, He sees Jesus. We are clothed in His righteousness. As a result, we stand before God as justified. Because of what Jesus the righteous has done on our behalf, God is able to pardon, accept and declare us to be just in His sight. So that when we sin, “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 ESV). “The blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7 ESV). Jesus died for our sins. Jesus lives for our sins. He is our advocate. He is our representative. His death paid for our sins. But in His resurrected life, He continues to redeem and save us from the condemnation of sin in our lives. “For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God” (Romans 5:10-11 NLT).

2 Chronicles 33-34, Titus 3

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The Kindness of God.

2 Chronicles 33-34, Titus 3

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior. – Titus 3:4-6 ESV

There are those who believe that the God of the Old Testament is somehow a different God than the one portrayed in the New Testament. The Old Testament God appears to be vengeful, angry, bloodthirsty and violent, while the God of the New Testament is a God of love, mercy and grace. But these oversimplified characterizations are too often based on a less-than-thorough understanding of the nature of God as revealed in the Bible. He cannot be relegated to a handful of character traits or given a label based on a few isolated incidences in Scripture. God is multifaceted, not one dimensional, and we see His full character on display throughout the entirety of Scripture. He is holy, righteous, loving, merciful, patient, quick to judge, jealous, gracious, powerful, tender, forgiving, condemning, permissive and controlling – all at the same time. We don’t have to wait until the New Testament and the arrival of Jesus on the scene to discover just how loving, gracious and forgiving God can be. We see it on display in the stories of the Old Testament. Manasseh was a wicked king who “did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger” (2 Chronicles 33:6 ESV). In fact, he “led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the people of Israel” (2 Chronicles 33:9 ESV). He was so wicked that God eventually allowed him to fall into the hands of Assyrians, who captured him and took him in chains to Babylon. It was there, in the midst of his darkest days, that he saw the magnitude of his sins, and cried out to God. He “humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom” (2 Chronicles 33:13 ESV).

What does this passage reveal about God?

Manasseh had done nothing to deserve God’s grace, kindness and forgiveness. But in spite of him, God restored him. God gave Manasseh a second chance. This man who had done everything in his power to replace the worship of God with the worship of false gods, was mercifully delivered by the very God he had forsaken. When Manasseh found himself bound in chains and living as a captive in Babylon, he didn’t call out to any of his false gods to save him. He cried out to God. He humbled himself and repented. He placed himself at the mercy of his God, and he found forgiveness and restoration. When Manasseh’s grandson, Josiah, became king of Judah, he proved to be a good king, He did “what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father” (2 Chronicles 34:2 ESV). He removed the idols and altars to the false gods. He cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. He repaired the house of the Lord. And in the midst of the restoration efforts on the Temple, the book of the Law was discovered. When it was read to Josiah and he discovered just how guilty he and the people of Judah were of living in disobedience to God’s commands, he responded with mourning and confession. And God responded to Josiah’s repentant, humble heart. “Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you” (2 Chronicles 34:27 ESV). God saw. God heard. God responded. Part of what Josiah had heard when the book of the Law was read to him was God’s promises of curses if the people did not obey Him. The curses were still going to come, but God was going to spare Josiah from having to live through them. He mercifully told Josiah, “your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place and it inhabitants” (2 Chronicles 34:28 ESV). God was going to be just and righteous, punishing Judah for its sins. But He was also going to be gracious and forgiving, mercifully sparing Josiah from having to live through the judgment to come.

What does this passage reveal about man?

Even though Josiah was a good king, he was still just as culpable and guilty as everyone else in the nation of Judah. Even he recognized that he was not exempt from the guilt revealed in God’s law. They all stood condemned and worthy of God’s full judgment and wrath. As a nation, Judah had been unfaithful and disobedient to God’s commands. They were corporately condemned to endure God’s righteous judgment. And Josiah knew it. He said, “For great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do according to all that is written in this book” (2 Chronicles 34:21 ESV). Paul told Titus a very similar thing. He reminded this young man of the corporate culpability of all men as they stand before a holy, righteous, sinless God. “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another” (Titus 3:3 ESV). In his letter to the Corinthians believers, Paul described in graphic terms those who would not be allowed to share in the kingdom of God. “Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10 NLT). Then he drops the bomb: “Some of you were once like that…” (1 Corinthians 6:11 NLT). But something happened. Paul reminds them, “But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11 NLT). Paul said a similar thing to Titus. “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:4-6 ESV). Paul makes it perfectly clear that God saved us, not because we deserved it, but because of His goodness and loving kindness. When we humbled ourselves before God, admitting our guilt and placing ourselves at His mercy, He saved us. He cleansed us. He made us holy. He poured out His Spirit on us.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

No man deserves the mercy of God. No man can earn the favor of God. Like the people of Judah, we all stand before Him as guilty and condemned – “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 ESV), and “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23 ESV). But the good news is that “the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23 ESV). In His kindness, God has provided a way in which man can escape the judgment to come. We can move from the hopeless state of being guilty as charged to being just, righteous and completely forgiven, with our sins completely pardoned. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1 ESV). What an amazing, gracious, kind and loving God we worship. He has made it possible for us to enjoy His forgiveness and undeserved mercy. And what should our response be? Paul gives us the answer. “I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works” (Titus 3:8 ESV). Because of all that God has done for us, we should long to do all we can for Him, not to earn His favor or wrack up brownie points. But to express our deep gratitude for His undeserved kindness and unmerited love.

Father, Your kindness of beyond comprehension. I was no more deserving of Your grace, mercy and forgiveness than Manasseh or Josiah. At one time I stood before You as guilty and condemned, fully deserving Your righteous judgment. But even in the midst of my guilt, shame, and sin, You saved me. Your expressed Your great love for me by sending Your own Son to die for me. He took my place on the cross and suffered the death I deserved. May I never take that priceless gift for granted. Help me to live in the light of Your incredible love. Give me the strength to live my life as a testimony and tribute to Your mercy and grace. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

Romans 5:12-21

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Law Versus Grace.

Romans 5:12-21

God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. – Romans 5:20 NLT

Over and over again in his letter, Paul has made it painfully clear that the Law of Moses can’t save anybody. “So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law” (Romans 3:28 NLT). But that fact does not diminish the importance of the law or in any way provide us with an excuse to ignore it. “Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law” (Romans 3:31 NLT). But all of this raises the question, “What is the purpose of the law?” It makes us reconsider God’s reasoning for giving the law in the first place. After all, if God knew that man could never live up to the standards of the law, why did He give it to us in the first place? Paul answers this important question in verse 20: “God’s law was given to that all people could see how sinful they were.”

Michael Horton, in his book, The Law & The Gospel, puts it this way: “The Law leads us to Christ in the Gospel by condemning us and causing us to despair of our own ‘righteousness.'” The law can’t save us, it can only convict us. The law gives us the requirements, but without any assistance to meet them. The law gives us the expectations of God, but without any ability to fulfill them. But that was never its purpose. “The law comes, not to reform the sinner nor to show him or her the “narrow way” to life, but to crush the sinner’s hopes of escaping God’s wrath through personal effort or even cooperation. All of our righteousness must come from someone else – someone who has fulfilled the law’s demands. Only after we have been stripped of our ‘filthy rags’ of righteousness (Isa. 64:6) – our fig leaves through which we try in vain to hide our guilt and shame – can we be clothed with Christ’s righteousness. First comes the law to proclaim judgment and death, then the gospel to proclaim justification and life. (Modern Reformation, Good News: The Gospel for Christians, May/June 2003).

When Adam (and Eve) sinned, sin entered the world. It took up residence in the lives of Adam and Eve’s descendants, resulting in generations of men and women who inherited not only their propensity for sin, but the guilt and condemnation that accompanies it. The law was given to reveal just how sinful we really are. Later on in this letter, Paul gives a personal testimony regarding the law and its role in his own life: “…it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet” (Romans 7:7 NLT). Like a speed limit sign on the side of the road, the law simply revealed man’s transgression of God’s righteous standard. Paul goes on to say, “But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, and I died.” (Romans 7:8-10 NLT). The law simply shows us our sin. It reveals to us our unrighteousness. It is God’s holy standard made clear – in black and white. No excuses allowed. I love the way Martin Luther said it. “The Law is a mirror to show a person what he is like, a sinner who is guilty of death, and worthy of everlasting punishment. What is this bruising and beating by the hand of the Law to accomplish? This, that we may find the way to grace. The Law is an usher to lead the way to grace.…The fatuous idea that a person can be holy by himself denies God the pleasure of saving sinners. God must therefore first take the sledge-hammer of the Law in His fists and smash the beast of self-righteousness and its brood of self-confidence, self-wisdom, self-righteousness, and self-help. When the conscience has been thoroughly frightened by the Law it welcomes the Gospel of grace with its message of a Savior….” (Martin Luther, Commentary on Galatians).

Rather than living under the exacting standards and condemnation of the law, we live within the wonderful grace of God. We have received the righteousness of Christ and the indwelling presence and power of the Holy Spirit. That does not mean the law has become null and void though. Jesus did not come to do away with the law, but to fulfill it. And Paul gives us ample exhortations that we are to live lives that are in keeping with God’s standard of righteousness. “And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward to the hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed” (Titus 2:11-13 NLT). “For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time – to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 1:9 NLT). Those who walk in the Spirit don’t break the law, but fulfill it. They have a power and capacity to do what they could never have done before. We can live holy lives, not out of our own self-effort, but according to the power of the Spirit who lives within us. Paul paints the vivid difference between trying to live according to the law in the flesh, and fulfilling the law in the power of the Spirit. “But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” (Galatians 5:18-23).

Father, I am so grateful that I do not have to keep the law to maintain a right standing with You. But I am also grateful that Your law is a constant reminder of just how holy You are and just how unholy I can be without You. May Your divine, holy, righteous law constantly remind me of my need for Christ. May it make me ever more dependent upon the Holy Spirit’s power and not my own. Thank You for providing me with the righteousness of Christ and the life-transforming power of the Spirit in my life. I have the capacity to live a life worthy of the Gospel and as a citizen of heaven. Amen.

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

Romans 3

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Good News. Bad News.

Romans 3

We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. – Romans 3:22 NLT

We’ve all heard plenty of “good news – bad news” jokes. They usually start out with the statement, “I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news.” In a way, that is exactly what Paul is saying in his letter to the Roman believers. Except that his message was anything but funny. He had good news for them, which they had already heard and believed. But he also wanted to make sure they grasped the bad news that “all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin” (Romans 3:9b NLT). Paul was addressing a common misconception that still exists today. In his day, the Jews believed that because they were the chosen people of God, they were exempt from God’s wrath. They saw themselves as a privileged people and because of their position as God’s chosen race, He was somehow obligated to protect and preserve them, regardless of what they did. They put so much stock on the faithfulness of God, that they twisted it into some kind of blind allegiance to them, that would overlook their failures and bless them, in spite of them. In other words, their sins would somehow be ignored by God, just because they were His chosen people.

But Paul doesn’t mince words when he exposes the fallacy in their argument, and he uses the writings of King David to make his point. “No one is righteous – not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away, all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one” (Romans 3:10-12 NLT). That is the bad news. And just to make sure that there is no confusion as to just how bad the bad news is, Paul reinforces it with these familiar and powerful words: “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23 NLT). You can’t make it any clearer than that. Everyone has sinned. There are not exemptions and exceptions. All men have failed to live up to God’s glorious standard. The Jews, because they had been given the law by God, somehow thought that was enough. Earlier in this letter, Paul had addressed the Jews directly. “You who call yourselves Jews are relying on God’s law, and you boast about your special relationship with him. You know what he wants; you know what is right because you have been taught his law” (Romans 2:17-18 NLT). But here’s the problem: “You are so proud of knowing the law, but you dishonor God by breaking it” (Romans 2:23 NLT). They knew the law, but didn’t keep it. They knew what God expected, but failed to meet those expectations. And they stood condemned, just like the Gentiles.

But here’s the Good News. In spite of all men, whether Jew or Gentile, having sinned and fallen short of God’s righteous standard, “Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty of our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood” (Romans 3:24-25 NLT). All men can be made right with God, not by keeping the law, but by believing in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Their sinfulness was rebellion against a holy God, and Romans 6:23 tells us that the penalty for that rebellion was death. Yet Jesus paid our penalty in full with His own life. He took our place. He bore our burden. He died the death we deserved and then made available to us a righteousness we could never have achieved on our own. He made us right with God. “He declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus” (Romans 3:26b NLT). That is incredibly Good News. And it all that much greater when we realize just how bad the bad news really is. None of us deserve God’s mercy, grace and forgiveness. None of us can boast, because we have done nothing to be accepted by God. The restoration of our right standing with God is all the result of His grace and Christ’s sacrifice. “We are made right with God through faith” (Romans 3:28 NLT). Now, that truly is Good News!

Father, never let me take for granted the Good News about Jesus Christ. Don’t let me ever assume that I somehow deserved Your grace and mercy. Keep my former sinful state seared into my brain. Yes, I am forgiven, redeemed and restored to a right relationship with You. But don’t ever let me forget that it was my sins that sent Jesus to the cross. It was for my sins that He died. My sins required that You give up Your own Son and that He willingly sacrifice His own life. I deserved death, but He took my place. My condemnation was real. My guilt was deserved. But I am right with You, because of what Jesus did for me. Thank You. Amen.

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

Romans 2:1-16

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Blown Away By the Kindness of God.

Romans 2:1-16

Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin? – Romans 1:4 NLT

God is angry with the sin of mankind. Paul made that painfully clear in the opening section of this letter. God has clearly revealed His existence through the natural revelation of His creation, so mankind is without excuse. From the beginning men have been able to see the handiwork and evidence of God’s existence through all that He has made. The very fact that humanity has always been predisposed to acknowledge the existence of some sort of supreme being gives credence to Paul’s assertion that He is knowable and accessible. And while mankind has had ample evidence of the existence of God, they have consistently refused to worship Him as God or show Him the gratitude He deserves. Instead, they worshiped the creation rather than the Creator. They turned to man-made idols and lifeless substitutes for the living God. They traded the truth about God for a lie. And so God turned them over to pursue their own selfish, sinful desires. The result has been a litany of destructive habits and unrighteous behaviors that demand God’s judgment. All men are guilty of rebelling against God. All men deserve the wrath of God.

But there are always those who arrogantly view themselves as above reproach and somehow excluded from guilt. They don’t see themselves as included in the list Paul gives in verses 26-31. In fact, they are the ones who point their fingers at everyone else, condemning their behavior, while smugly justifying their own. But Paul says, “When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things” (Romans 2:1b NLT). Paul is addressing that self-righteous, self-made individual who somehow believes he is worthy of God’s love, mercy and grace. This tends to be the religious person who thinks that he has a special relationship with God and views everyone else as lost and condemned because of their ignorance and unbelief. But Paul reminds them, “Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?” (Romans 2:4 NLT). Rather than recognize the incredible tolerance of God, they arrogantly continue to believe that they somehow deserve God’s love and mercy. Instead of acknowledging their sin and confessing it before God, they stubbornly continue to live in a fantasy world where they are somehow better than everyone else and more deserving of God’s favor.

So Paul attempts to break the bad news that judgment is coming. There will be a day when God holds every man and woman accountable for the way they have lived their life. Both Jews and Gentiles will have to answer to God for the outcome of their lives. “He will judge everyone according to what they have done” (Romans 2:6 NLT). “There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil – for the Jew first and also for the Gentile” (Romans 2:9 NLT). No one will escape. Unless of course you are able to “do good,” and keep God’s law perfectly and completely. But no one does good, not a single one. Paul will go on to stress this important point in chapter three. “No one is righteous – not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one” (Romans 3:10-12 NLT). It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Jew or a Gentile. It doesn’t matter if you think you’re a sinner or view yourself as a saint. The same outcome awaits everyone who sins, and according to Scripture, “everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23 NLT). But over the centuries, God has continued to show His kindness and tolerance toward mankind. He has withheld His judgment and continued to extend His mercy, offering all men the free gift of eternal life through His Son Jesus Christ. According to Paul, it is the kindness of God that is intended to turn us from our sin. His tolerance and patience, in spite of our sin, should drive us to Him. We’re all guilty and we can’t save ourselves. We’re all condemned and can’t escape the verdict for our crimes against God. Unless we can keep His law perfectly and completely, we can’t be made right with God. And we must recognize the reality that, apart from the saving work of Jesus Christ, every single human being will one day stand before God in judgment. And the sooner men come to grips with that reality, the sooner they will seek and savor the kindness of God made available through the substitionary death of Jesus Christ on the cross. “This is real love – not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins” (1 John 4:10 NLT).

Father, Your kindness is amazing. Your patience with mankind is unbelievable. You have every right to destroy that which You made. Sin and rebellion against You leave every man and woman guilty and deserving of Your just and righteous wrath. Yet you continue to show them love, mercy, and kindness. You continue to extend the offer of Your Son. Never let me lose sight of just how kind and patient You have been to me. I am no more deserving of Your love and grace than any other person who has ever lived. So thank You! Amen.

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org